National Second Division 2023: Identifying talent

08:35, 11/06/2023

The 2023 National Second Division Football Tournament includes 2.5 promotion slots, including 2 direct slots and 1 play-off slot with the 10th ranked team of the First Division.

Although the season has just started, looking at the preparation of the teams and the results after the first matches, it is possible to identify the competitors for the promotion ticket with Dak Lak Football Club.

Among the 14 teams participating in the Second Division, the brightest candidate for the championship is Dong Thap Football Club. The once famous team, with the richest tradition in the Mekong Delta, was crowned V.League 1 champion twice in 1989 and 1996, but in 2016 it was relegated to the First Division and in 2020 it was relegated to the Second Division. This year, Coach Phan Thanh Binh's team is determined to return to the National First Division.

Dak Lak Football Club squad competing in the 2023 National Second Division.

In Dong Thap's squad, striker Nguyen Cong Thanh has just returned after 2 years playing for Ho Chi Minh City in V.League 1. This striker born in 1997 once "made waves" in the highest tournament in Vietnam when Dong Thap was playing in V.League 1 and was the youngest player to score in V.League 1, this time he will contribute to increasing the strength of Dong Thap's attack. In the midfield, there is the presence of a talented midfielder, Nguyen Thien Chi, who has just left Can Tho Football Club. Another familiar face is defender Vo Minh Trong, a player who participated with the Vietnam U23 team in the 2022 Southeast Asian U23 Football Championship in Cambodia and won the championship, with his solid playing style, he will certainly help Dong Thap's defense become more solid.

Dong Thap affirmed their desire to return to the top tournament through the first two matches, winning 2-0 against Vinh Long and drawing 0-0 with Dugong Kien Giang. The coaching staff of the remaining 13 teams in the Second Division highly appreciated Dong Thap, and shared the opinion that this is a strong candidate for one of the two direct promotion spots.

Two other candidates that need to be mentioned are Hai Nam Vinh Yen - Vinh Phuc and Dong Nai. Last season, both missed out on promotion tickets at the last minute when Dong Nai lost 3-0 to Hoa Binh Football Club, while Hai Nam also sadly watched Binh Thuan win the ticket to play professionally after a series of unlucky penalties.

With Dong Nai, the team that competed in V.League 1 in 2015, then dropped to the First Division in 2016 and then started again from the Second Division in 2017, now has enough strength to realize that goal. Coach Hoang Hai Duong leads Dong Nai (who was a player for many years) with enough experience to promote their strength, helping Dong Nai close the group B round in which they participated with one of the two leading positions to compete for promotion spots.

Dak Lak players are confident in their goal of promotion after a 2-1 win over Lam Dong in the first match.

The only professional football team in Vinh Phuc province is Hai Nam Vinh Yen - Vinh Phuc. Although still young, having just been established in 2020, they are determined to participate in the professional playground when they started with the Third Division in 2020, then quickly appeared in the Second Division and reached the final match to compete for promotion. A bit of bad luck in the penalty shootout took away their chance in V.League 2. However, perhaps this season everything will be different, the experience and useful lessons accumulated over two seasons will be the necessary "baggage" to help them conquer the difficult goals ahead.

Perhaps it is also necessary to mention names such as: Lam Dong, PVF or Vinh Long, Tien Giang... also have quite good preparation, can become "dark horses", strong enough to make it difficult for teams with ambitions to compete for promotion spots. Thanks to that fierce competition, the promotion battle of V.League 2 will be more attractive, fierce and dramatic.

Dang Trieu

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